Conveyor for gas contact apparatus



Dec. 24, 1968 E. M COY CONVEYOR FOR GAS CONTACT APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1967 INVENTOR LYLE E. McCOY BY MAM ATTORNEY United States Patent O l 3,417,488 CONVEYOR FOR GAS CONTACT APPARATUS Lyle E. McCoy, 1754 Sterigere St., Norristown, Pa. 19401 Filed July 10, 1967, Ser. No. 652,302 7 Claims. (Cl. 34236) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is essentially concerned with a conveyor including loops of flexible strands extending about spaced rotatable rolls defining upper and lower runs movable between the rolls, and support means for elevating certain of the strands at one location, and elevating other of the strands at another location, so that material on the certain elevated strands is transferred to the other elevated strands during conveyance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION While the device of this invention has been primarily developed and employed for use with sticky products, such as food products during drying, and will be illustrated and described hereinafter with particular reference thereto, it is appreciated that the instant invention is capable of many varied applications all of which are intended to be comprehended herein.

As is well know to those versed in the art, the conveya SUMMARY Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a conveyor apparatus of the type described which overcomes the mentioned difficulties of prior-art devices, effectively minimizes cleaning requirements, and delivers products with minimum possibility of sticking.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a conveyor having the advantageous characteristics of the preceding paragraph, which is extremely simple in construction, and wherein operation and maintenance are greatly simplified, to effectively reduce both initial and continuing costs.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view showing a conveyor apparatus of the present invention with a cabinet side removed to expose the interior thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1, partly broken away to expose the conveyor.

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG- URES 1 and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional elevational view taken generally along the line 44 of FIGURES 1 and 2.

3,417,488 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawing, and specifically to FIGURES 1-3 thereof, a drying apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is there generally designated 10, and includes a generally horizontally extending housing or cabinet 11 adapted to stand on a supporting surface or floor 12. The housing 11 may include upstanding front and rear walls 13 and 14, and upstanding end walls 15 and 16.

A conveyor is generally designated and extends longitudinally through the housing 11, passing through suitable openings in the end walls 15 and 16. The conveyor 20 may include a pair of generally parallel, horizontally disposed end rolls, an inlet or feed roll being designated 21, and an outlet or discharge roll being desig nated 22. The fed roll 21 is located adjacent to and exteriorly of the housing end wall 15, being rotatably supported by suitable pedestal journals 23, which may be mounted on the floor 12. The discharge roll 22 is located adjacent to and exteriorly of the housing end wall 16 and rotatably supported at its opposite ends by upstanding pedestal journals 24. Suitable drive means is provided for rotating at least one of the rolls 21 and 22, such as a pulley 25 keyed to the shaft of roll 22.

A continuous flexible strand 26, say of string or other flexible filamentary element, which may be of plastic, metal or other material, extends in a spiral course encompassing both the feed and discharge rolls 21 and 22. In passing about its spiral course, the flexible strand 26 defines an upper conveyor run 27 extending between upper sides of the rolls 21 and 22, and a lower conveyor run 28 extending between undersides of the rolls. Thus, the continuous filamentary element 26, by extension along its spiral course, provides a plurality of side-by-side loops, each loop being defined by a convolution of the spirally extending element. In addition to being continuous, the filamentary element 26 may be endless, the endmost loop 29 adjacent to one side of the lower run 28 being integrally or otherwise suitably connected to the endmost loop 30 at the other side of the lower run by a diagonally extending strand portion 31. The diagonally extending strand portion 31 may be guided along its diagonal path by pulleys or rollers 32 and 33 between opposite sides of the lower run 28, beneath the latter. Thus, upon rotation of the rolls 21 and 22, as by driving force being applied to the latter in a clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 1, the upper conveyor run 27 moves rightward from the feed roll 21 to the discharge roll 22, While the lower conveyor run 28 moves leftward, returning from the discharge roll 22 to the feed roll 21. Further, the flexible, filamentary element 26 moves longitudinally along its spiral course, the loops thereof moving laterally of the runs, say in the direction from front side wall 13 toward rear side wall 14, and the filamentary element returns between the diagonally arranged guide rolls 32 and 33 toward the front side wall.

In addition, a plurality of at least two spacer members 35, 36 and 37 extend transversely across the upper run 27, three being shown in the illustrated embodiment. The spacer members 3537 may be fixed rods or rotatable rolls arranged in parallel spaced relation with respect to each other, generally normal to the direction of con veyor movement, each extending entirely across and beyond opposite sides of the upper run 27, having its opposite ends carried by the housing 11, say having their forward ends carried by the housing front wall 13, and their rearward ends carried by a housing frame member 38. In the fragmentary detailed view of FIGURE 4, the spacer member 36 is illustrated as having its end rotatably supported by a journal bearing 39, but the spacer members may be fixedly supported, if desired. Each spacer member 35-37 extends across its respective region of the upper conveyor run 27 in interwoven relation therewith, passing alternately over and under the strands of successive loops of filamentary element 26. Stated otherwise, the spacer members 35-3'7 each engage the underside and upper side of the strands of successive loops of filamentary element 26, to vertically space the engaged regions of the strands. Thus, as seen in FIGURES l and 2, the spacer member 35 engages under each alternate strand 40 and over each intermediate or remaining strand 41. Further, the next adjacent spacer member 36, downstream of the spacer member 35, engages over each alternate strand 40 and under each intermediate or remaining strand 41. The next adjacent downstream spacer member 37 engages under each strand 40 and over each strand 41, in the same manner as the spacer member 35.

It will now be appreciated that the spacer members 35-37 provide support means for elevating certain of the strands at the engaged regions thereof with respect to the other strands, which are depressed by the support means or spacer elements.

As best seen in FIGURE 1, the local elevation of the strands 40 by the spacer elements or support means 35 and 37, and local depression of the strands 40 by the spacer element 36, causes the strands to assume a declining attitude in the direction from spacer element 35 to spacer element 36, and an inclining attitude from spacer element 36 to spacer element 37. The elevation of local regions of strands 41 by intermediate spacer element 36 causes the strands to assume an inclined attitude from the spacer element 35 to the spacer element 36, and a declining attitude from the spacer element 36 to the spacer element 37. Thus, at a location intermediate the spacer members 35 and 36, the strands 40 and 41 cross or intersect, as at 42, and similarly the strands intersect at the region 43 intermediate spacer members 36 and 37. Upon conveyance of articles along the upper run 26 of conveyer 20, the articles are initially supported from beneath by strands 40 passing over spacer member 35, and at intersection region 42 the supported articles are transferred for support from beneath by strands 41. At intersection region 43, the conveyed articles are again transferred to strands 40 for discharge from roll 22. Obviously, this repeated transfer of the articles being conveyed assures a minimum of sticking. Also, as the strands 40 and 41 pass through the regions of intersection 42 and 43, the strands may rub or slide against each other, depending upon whether the loops are wound closely together or not, for additional wiping of the strands.

In practice, the conveyor 20 finds highly advantageous application in drying operations. Accordingly, the housing 11 may include a heater 45 of any suitable type, say I some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Conveyor apparatus comprising a rotary feed roll, a rotary discharge roll spaced from said feed roll, drive means for rotating at least one of said feed and discharge rolls, a plurality of loops of flexible strands extending about said feed and discharge rolls, said loops defining upper and lower runs passing between said rolls and movable in opposite directions upon rotation of said rolls by said drive means, support means at one region of said upper run supporting certain of said strands elevated above the remainder of said strands, and additional support means at another region on said upper run supporting substantially the remainder of said strands elevated above said certain strands, whereby the strands of said upper run during movement between said rolls pass through a region of intersection effecting transfer of articles being conveyed between said certain and remaining strands.

2. Conveyor apparatus according to claim 1, said loops comprising a continuous flexible filamentary element extending in a spiral course about said feed and discharge rolls and having its ends connected together for movement of the element along the spiral course upon roll rotation, the convolutions of the spiral course defining said loops.

3. Conveyor apparatus according to claim 1, said firstmentioned and additional support means each comprising a spacer member engaged in woven relation transversely through said upper run to vertically space the engaged portions of said certain and remaining strands.

4. Conveyor apparatus according to claim 3, said spacer members each passing alternately over and under said strands in said woven relation.

5. Conveyor apparatus according to claim 3, said loops comprising a continuous flexible filamentary element extendng in a spral course about said feed and discharge rolls and having its ends connected together for movement of the element along the spiral course upon roll rotation, the convolutions of the spiral course defining said loops.

6. Conveyor apparatus according to claim 1, in combination with fluid-movement means for passing fluid transversely of said upper run, to treat material on said upper run with fluid.

7. Conveyor apparatus according to claim 6, in combination with heater means in the path of fluid moved by said fluid-movement means, for treating articles being conveyed with heated fluid.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,285,516 11/1918 White. 2,017,991 10/1935 Rondolin 107-57 3,254,426 6/1966 Lamb et al 34-216 XR FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

us. 01. X.R. 19s 190; 107 57 

